Pierrepoint (DVD)

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2005) starring Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson. Based on true events. Albert Pierrepoint (Spall), a hangman in England from the 1930s to the '50s, is chosen by Field Marshal Montgomery to execute Nazi war criminals after World War II. The number to be hanged is large (47 in one week) but Pierrepoint goes about it with characteristic focus and efficiency. He doesn't care about the crimes of the condemned, only that they die quickly and painlessly. Unfortunately for Pierrepoint, what he does for a living, previously a secret, becomes public knowledge while he is in Germany. When he returns to England, he finds himself the focus of controversy. In a cruel twist of fate, one of the English killers to be hanged turns out to be someone he knows. Altogether, it makes for a fascinating movie. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+